Mercury Grand Marquis question
 

Does anyone know anything about the 89 Mercury Marquis? In terms of reliability or lack thereof. Ease of repair etc? That's one of the last ones of the old square body I think before they started streamlining them. I think with the 502 V8.

- Peter.

Crown Victoria gussied up. The 5.0L was probably the best engine the Ford line produced from 1981 on.

The transmission and body fitment was their weak points. The electrical switches were "ticky-tacky" and prone to breaking.

Good "cushy" turnpike kind of ride. The engine definitely outperforms its handling. Decent fuel mileage on the road (18-25 MPG) kinda sucky in town (15-18 on a good day).

Cheap to maintain but when the engine is worn out, it is worn out.

Good "drive to Vegas" car. Made for the highway. Just like sitting in your easy chair watching the mile markers go by.

The Lincoln Town Car without the problematic air ride.

Jim B is the guy to talk to and there's another forum member who drives a Crown Vic.

I had one of these as a wrecking yard runner. A station wagon.

It was good on the mpg on the road at 25 mpg. A nice ride but no Mercedes. For example: 600 miles in the 300D will leave you feeling the same as when you started. 600 miles in the Crown Vic will leave you feeling like you just drove 600 miles.

But for regular trips it is hard to beat, and there is a lot of performance stuff out there cheap since so many of these were Police cars. I put Cop sway bars on mine and it made a BIG difference.

Don't let the gas tank get low. The electric pump in the tank will burn out and the tank must be removed to change it. Most shops charge around $800 for this which, while easy, takes hours and hours of labor.

There is also a big community of CV lovers on the web, and someone is always trying to sell cop parts which are very easy to install.

When the power window motors fail, and they will, they can be rebuilt cheaply or replace for about $100 each. Go for the replacement. Rebuilding parts are cheap but they are the toughest window motors I have ever seen when it comes to rebuilding them.

Look for rusted brake line, driver's side, between the frame and the body...I had a 1989 Vic that failed on me. Also, if the heater core fails, don't attempt a replacement...you have to rip the entire dash apart to get to it.

Other than that, I enjoyed mine very much...it was a former detective's car with the police package drive train.

Interesting. Ones come up near me for 1600. Might consider going to look at it when a couple more paychecks are in.

- Peter.

At that price, pick up a couple. :D

They really are great cars...very comfortable. I actually prefer the older ones over 1990's version.

Well, the heater is irrelevant as I live in Phoenix and regard a heater as the most useless item of equipment ever wasted on a car. Primo ably not likely to have much of a rust problem with brake lines either I should think.

- Peter.

I had a nice reply typed out and then the forum went down for maintenance. Short version: Good car if you can get it for cheap.

It would be hard to beat for cheap, comfortable transportation. Parts are cheap, even rebuilt engines and transmissions. They're easy to work on compared to modern cars. The 89 would be injected with a roller cam. Not fast, but adds to longevity of the engine.

The first weak point on that small block engine is the cam timing set. Not impossible to replace with the engine in the car; maybe a bit tedious. I'd consider replacing even before 100,000 miles with quality replacement parts. Bottom end is pretty stout.

I found it rather easy...I pulled the grill and radiator on mine, replaced the timing set and while there, the water pump as well, since they aren't overly expensive. Once I had the tools gathered together, the job took a couple of hours.

Because my exwife was badgering me about working on the car instead of going to her family reunion, it took me all day. I kept having to test drive and adjust the Knuter valve...damned shame I missed the reunion. ;):D

The 89 had a roller cam which decreased the load on the chain. The good news on those old engines is that when you did experience timing chain failure, it would jump a tooth rather than destroying the engine.

I had an 86 which was the year with Bosch Fuel Injection. As a safety item all Crown Vics, which of course now had electric fuel pump, had a cut off switch for the pump that was a gravity activated switch. In other words... If you rolled the car the weight in the switch would fall and cut power to the fuel pump and you would not be getting sprayed with gasoline while you laid there with a car on top of you.

OK, nothing wrong with that. But the weight would also bounce around if you hit some railroad tracks and the bounce would cause the weight to fly up which, as far as the switch was concerned, was as good as falling down. The effect was if I hit a set of tracks too fast the car would die and then, when the weight had settled down, start back up again. It was over in about one second, but it was always a weird feeling.

By the way... I found that Bosch only sold Ford parts for six months, so if the car you buy is a 1986 with Bosch on it then be ready to wait for any FI parts you might need as no one keeps them in stock. The counter guys could have been telling me a story about this, but the bottom line was they always had Ford FI parts but always had to order the Bosch ones.

I never knew Ford used a Bosch system in these--even for a short while. I thought they went from card to the EFI, and then to the Sequential EFI which gave a nice boost to power and economy. I had a '79 4 cyl Mustang as a commuter car. I worked with a guy who had the GT with SEFI--he had gobs more power AND used less fuel. Technology was amazing.

I dont think ford ever used Bosch injection but they did use bosch pressure regulators and injectors right from the beginning into the mid 90's